Teach us that wealth is not elegance, that profusion is not magnificence, that splendor is not beauty.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
You will be as much value to others as you have been to yourself.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
The three most important things a man has are, briefly, his private parts, his money, and his religious opinions.
—Samuel Butler
Nothing is to be rated higher than the value of the day.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
I don’t think anything is unrealistic if you believe you can do it. I think if you are determined enough and willing to pay the price, you can get it done.
—Mike Ditka (b.1939) American Sportsperson
We know the true worth of a thing when we have lost it.
—French Proverb
If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.
—Bruce Lee (1940–73) American Martial Artist, Actor, Philosopher
No one has a corner on success. It is his who pays the price.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
Why so large a cost, having so short a lease, does thou upon your fading mansion spend?
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Nature cannot be tricked or cheated. She will give up to you the object of your struggles only after you have paid her price.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
One doesn’t recognize the really important moments in one’s life until it’s too late.
—Agatha Christie (1890–1976) British Novelist, Short-Story Writer, Playwright
The value given to the testimony of any feeling must depend on our whole philosophy, not our whole philosophy on a feeling.
—C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.
—Ask Ann Landers (1918–2002) American Advice Columnist
Try not to become a man of success, but rather to become a man of value. He is considered successful in our day who gets more out of life than he puts in. But a man of value will give more than he receives.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
First you destroy those who create values. Then you destroy those who know what the values are, and who also know that those destroyed before were in fact the creators of values. But real barbarism begins when no one can any longer judge or know that what he does is barbaric.
—Ryszard Kapuscinski (1932–2007) Polish Journalist
Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
Your greatest asset is your earning ability. Your greatest resource is your time.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
When you want something, you have to be willing to pay your dues.
—Les Brown
Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. So aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity. It becomes cheap as it becomes vulgar, and will no longer raise expectation or animate enterprise.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Riches get their value from the mind of the possessor; they are blessings to those who know how to use them, and curses to those who do not.
—Terence (c.195–159 BCE) Roman Comic Dramatist
The least pain in our little finger gives us more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions of our fellow-beings.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
No price is too low for a bear or too high for a bull.
—Common Proverb
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.
—Buddhist Teaching
For every promise, there is a price to pay. If the promise is clear, the price is easy.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
The best thing in life aren’t things.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
Any power must be an enemy of mankind which enslaves the individual by terror and force, whether it arises under the Fascist or the Communist flag. All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded to the individual.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
A constant struggle, a ceaseless battle to bring success from inhospitable surroundings, is the price of all great achievements.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
Everything you want in life has a price connected to it. There’s a price to pay if you want to make things better, a price to pay just for leaving things as they are, a price for everything.
—Harry Browne (1933–2006) American Politician, Investor, Writer
One cannot but wonder at this constantly recurring phrase getting something for nothing, as if it were the peculiar and perverse ambition of disturbers of society. Except for our animal outfit, practically all we have is handed us gratis. Can the most complacent reactionary flatter himself that he invented the art of writing or the printing press, or discovered his religious, economic, and moral convictions, or any of the devices which supply him with meat and raiment or any of the sources of such pleasure as he may derive from literature or the fine arts? In short, civilization is little else than getting something for nothing.
—James Harvey Robinson (1863–1936) American Historian
The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.
—Theophrastus (c.372–c.286 BCE) Greek Philosopher
In all our deeds, the proper value and respect for time determines success or failure.
—Malcolm X (1925–65) American Civil Rights Leader
A price has to be paid for success. Almost invariably those who have reached the summits worked harder and longer, studied and planned more assiduously, practiced more self-denial, overcame more difficulties than those of us who have not risen so far.
—B. C. Forbes (1880–1954) Scottish-born American Journalist, Publisher
People should know what you stand for. They should also know what you won’t stand for.
—Unknown
You must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing.
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) American Head of State
Forbidden things have a secret charm.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
We’re so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it’s all about.
—Joseph Campbell (1904–87) American Mythologist, Writer, Lecturer
Something you don’t want is dear at any price.
—Common Proverb
That which costs little is less valued.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
—Warren Buffett (b.1930) American Investor
Time is the scarcest resource of the manager; If it is not managed, nothing else can be managed.
—Peter Drucker (1909–2005) Austrian-born Management Consultant
If you don’t set a baseline standard for what you’ll accept in life, you’ll find it’s easy to slip into behaviors and attitudes or a quality of life that’s far below what you deserve.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
Nothing can have value without being an object of utility.
—Karl Marx (1818–1883) German Philosopher, Economist
We get paid for bringing value to the market place.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly. It is dearness only which gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price on its goods.
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American Nationalist, Author, Pamphleteer, Radical, Inventor
There is no victory at bargain basement prices.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
To my mind the old masters are not art; their value is in their scarcity.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
You are only worth has much as you have.
—Common Proverb
If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.
—Bruce Lee (1940–73) American Martial Artist, Actor, Philosopher